1
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Wards Y, Ehrhardt SE, Filmer HL, Mattingley JB, Garner KG, Dux PE. Neural substrates of individual differences in learning generalization via combined brain stimulation and multitasking training. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:11679-11694. [PMID: 37930735 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhad406] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2023] [Revised: 10/05/2023] [Accepted: 10/11/2023] [Indexed: 11/07/2023] Open
Abstract
A pervasive limitation in cognition is reflected by the performance costs we experience when attempting to undertake two tasks simultaneously. While training can overcome these multitasking costs, the more elusive objective of training interventions is to induce persistent gains that transfer across tasks. Combined brain stimulation and cognitive training protocols have been employed to improve a range of psychological processes and facilitate such transfer, with consistent gains demonstrated in multitasking and decision-making. Neural activity in frontal, parietal, and subcortical regions has been implicated in multitasking training gains, but how the brain supports training transfer is poorly understood. To investigate this, we combined transcranial direct current stimulation of the prefrontal cortex and multitasking training, with functional magnetic resonance imaging in 178 participants. We observed transfer to a visual search task, following 1 mA left or right prefrontal cortex transcranial direct current stimulation and multitasking training. These gains persisted for 1-month post-training. Notably, improvements in visual search performance for the right hemisphere stimulation group were associated with activity changes in the right hemisphere dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, intraparietal sulcus, and cerebellum. Thus, functional dynamics in these task-general regions determine how individuals respond to paired stimulation and training, resulting in enhanced performance on an untrained task.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yohan Wards
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, McElwain Building, Campbell Road, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Shane E Ehrhardt
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, McElwain Building, Campbell Road, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Hannah L Filmer
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, McElwain Building, Campbell Road, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Jason B Mattingley
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, McElwain Building, Campbell Road, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Building 79, Upland Road, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
- Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, MaRS Centre, West tower, 661 University Ave., Suite 505, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1M1, Canada
| | - Kelly G Garner
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, McElwain Building, Campbell Road, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Building 79, Upland Road, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
- School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Mathews Building, Gate 11, Botany Street, Randwick, New South Wales 2052, Australia
- School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Hills Building, Edgbaston Park Rd, Birmingham B15 2TT, United Kingdom
| | - Paul E Dux
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, McElwain Building, Campbell Road, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
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2
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Kaminska ME, Rikers RMJP. Does walking improve diagnosis of skin conditions at varying levels of medical expertise? ADVANCES IN HEALTH SCIENCES EDUCATION : THEORY AND PRACTICE 2021; 26:405-416. [PMID: 32986221 DOI: 10.1007/s10459-020-09992-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2019] [Accepted: 09/08/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
The use of walking workstations in educational and work settings has been shown to improve cognitive abilities. At the same time, it has been repeatedly shown that medical residents around the world do not meet exercise guidelines, mainly due to a scarcity of available free time. Our study investigates the boundaries of the previously observed phenomenon of improved cognitive performance with physical activity using materials that represent real life tasks. Participants had different level of expertise and involved second year psychology students, medical students, and family medicine residents. We examined the effect of being physically inactive (i.e., sitting) or active (i.e., walking) while diagnosing multiple complex presentations of four skin conditions. We assumed that being physically active, irrespective of the level of expertise, will bolster diagnostic performance. Our findings show, however, that being physically active does not change the performance level of participants with different levels of medical expertise. Implications for medical education and suggestions for further research will be discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Malgorzata E Kaminska
- Northern Medical Program, University of Northern British Columbia, 3333 University Way, Prince George, BC, V2N 4Z9, Canada.
- Department of Family Practice, University of British Columbia, 317-2194 Health Sciences Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada.
| | - Remy M J P Rikers
- Roosevelt Center for Excellence in Education, University College Roosevelt, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 94, 4330 AB, Middleburg, The Netherlands
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3
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Strobach T, Huestegge L. Structuralist Mental Representation of Dual-action Demands: Mechanisms of Improved Dual-task Performance after Practice in Older Adults. Exp Aging Res 2021; 47:109-130. [PMID: 33446078 DOI: 10.1080/0361073x.2021.1873053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Aim: The present study was designed to investigate how behavioral (dual-action) demands in dual tasks are mentally represented in older adults and how these representations might contribute to the practice-related improvement of dual-task performance. Three different theoretical representation accounts were empirically tested: a structuralist account, a holistic account, and a contextual change account. The first account assumes that component tasks remain structurally intact when combined with another task while the second account assumes that dual-action requirements in dual tasks are represented holistically and entirely distinct from its component (single-action) requirements. The final account assumes that a change in context (e.g., from single to dual requirement) might generally impede response retrieval, similar to repeating a response when the task context switches. Methods: To address this issue of dual-action representations in older adults, we assessed trial-by-trial effects in a single/dual switch paradigm (involving a randomized mix of single- and dual-task trials within blocks). In detail, we re-analyzed a large set of practice data involving seven sessions, in which an auditory-vocal task was combined with a visual-manual task. Results: At the end of practice, the current results were largely consistent with the structuralist account. Conclusions: We conclude that dual-action requirements in the present dual-task setting are mentally represented in a predominantly structuralist fashion at the end of practice in older adults. The results are discussed in the context of other theories on practice-related mechanisms of improved dual-task performance in this age group.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tilo Strobach
- Department of Psychology, MSH Medical School , Hamburg, Germany
| | - Lynn Huestegge
- Department of Psychology, University of Würzburg , Würzburg, Germany
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4
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Vékony T, Török L, Pedraza F, Schipper K, Pleche C, Tóth L, Janacsek K, Nemeth D. Retrieval of a well-established skill is resistant to distraction: Evidence from an implicit probabilistic sequence learning task. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0243541. [PMID: 33301471 PMCID: PMC7728172 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0243541] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2020] [Accepted: 11/24/2020] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The characteristics of acquiring new sequence information under dual-task situations have been extensively studied. A concurrent task has often been found to affect performance. In real life, however, we mostly perform a secondary task when the primary task is already well acquired. The effect of a secondary task on the ability to retrieve well-established sequence representations remains elusive. The present study investigates whether accessing well-acquired probabilistic sequence knowledge is affected by a concurrent task. Participants acquired non-adjacent regularities in an implicit probabilistic sequence learning task. After a 24-hour offline period, participants were tested on the same probabilistic sequence learning task under dual-task or single-task conditions. Here, we show that although the secondary task significantly prolonged the overall reaction times in the primary (sequence learning) task, access to the previously learned probabilistic representations remained intact. Our results highlight the importance of studying the dual-task effect not only in the learning phase but also during memory access to reveal the robustness of the acquired skill.
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Affiliation(s)
- Teodóra Vékony
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center (CRNL), INSERM, CNRS, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France
- Department of Neurology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary
| | - Lilla Török
- Department of Psychology and Sport Psychology, University of Physical Education, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Felipe Pedraza
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center (CRNL), INSERM, CNRS, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France
- Institute of Psychology, Université Lumière - Lyon 2, Lyon, France
| | - Kate Schipper
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center (CRNL), INSERM, CNRS, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France
| | - Claire Pleche
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center (CRNL), INSERM, CNRS, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France
| | - László Tóth
- Department of Psychology and Sport Psychology, University of Physical Education, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Karolina Janacsek
- Centre for Thinking and Learning, Institute for Lifecourse Development, School of Human Sciences, Faculty of Education, Health and Human Sciences, University of Greenwich, London, United Kingdom
- Institute of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
- Brain, Memory and Language Research Group, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Dezso Nemeth
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center (CRNL), INSERM, CNRS, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France
- Institute of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
- Brain, Memory and Language Research Group, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
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5
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On the Reliability of Examining Dual-Tasking Abilities Using a Novel E-Health Device—A Proof of Concept Study in Multiple Sclerosis. J Clin Med 2020; 9:jcm9113423. [PMID: 33113872 PMCID: PMC7692140 DOI: 10.3390/jcm9113423] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2020] [Revised: 10/19/2020] [Accepted: 10/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
The assessment of neuropsychological functions and especially dual-tasking abilities is considered to be increasingly relevant in the assessment of neurological disease, and Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in particular. However, the assessment of dual-tasking abilities is hindered by specific software requirements and extensive testing times. We designed a novel e-health (progressive web application-based) device for the assessment of dual-tasking abilities usable in “bedside” and outpatient clinic settings and examined its reliability in a sample of N = 184 MS patients in an outpatient setting. Moreover, we examined the relevance of dual-tasking assessment using this device with respect to clinically relevant parameters in MS. We show that a meaningful assessment of dual-tasking is possible within 6 min and that the behavioral readouts overall show good reliability depending on dual-tasking difficulty. We show that dual-tasking readouts were correlated with clinically relevant parameters (e.g., EDSS, disease duration, processing speed) and were not affected by fatigue levels. We consider the tested dual-tasking assessment device suitable for routine clinical neuropsychological assessments of dual-tasking abilities. Future studies may further evaluate this test regarding its suitability in the long-term follow up assessments and to assess dual-tasking abilities in other neurological and psychiatric disorders.
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6
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Barthel M, Sauppe S. Speech Planning at Turn Transitions in Dialog Is Associated With Increased Processing Load. Cogn Sci 2019; 43:e12768. [DOI: 10.1111/cogs.12768] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2018] [Revised: 02/13/2019] [Accepted: 05/21/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Mathias Barthel
- Language and Cognition Department Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics
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7
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Heyselaar E, Segaert K. Memory encoding of syntactic information involves domain-general attentional resources: Evidence from dual-task studies. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2019; 72:1285-1296. [DOI: 10.1177/1747021818801249] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
We investigate the type of attention (domain-general or language-specific) used during syntactic processing. We focus on syntactic priming: In this task, participants listen to a sentence that describes a picture (prime sentence), followed by a picture the participants need to describe (target sentence). We measure the proportion of times participants use the syntactic structure they heard in the prime sentence to describe the current target sentence as a measure of syntactic processing. Participants simultaneously conducted a motion-object tracking (MOT) task, a task commonly used to tax domain-general attentional resources. We manipulated the number of objects the participant had to track; we thus measured participants’ ability to process syntax while their attention is not taxed, slightly taxed, or overly taxed. Performance in the MOT task was significantly worse when conducted as a dual task compared with as a single task. We observed an inverted U-shaped curve on priming magnitude when conducting the MOT task concurrently with prime sentences (i.e., memory encoding), but no effect when conducted with target sentences (i.e., memory retrieval). Our results illustrate how, during the encoding of syntactic information, domain-general attention differentially affects syntactic processing, whereas during the retrieval of syntactic information, domain-general attention does not influence syntactic processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evelien Heyselaar
- Neurobiology of Language Department, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Katrien Segaert
- School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
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8
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Lui KFH, Wong ACN. Multiple processing limitations underlie multitasking costs. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2019; 84:1946-1964. [PMID: 31073770 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-019-01196-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2018] [Accepted: 04/29/2019] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Human multitasking is typically defined as the practice of performing more than one task at the same time (dual task) or rapidly alternating between multiple tasks (task switching). The majority of research in multitasking has been focusing on individual paradigms, with surprisingly little effort in understanding their relationships. We adopted an individual-difference approach to reveal the limitations underlying multitasking costs measured in different paradigms. Exploratory factor analyses revealed not a general multitasking factor but instead three different processing limitations associated with response selection, retrieval and maintenance of task information, and task-set reconfiguration. The three factors were only weakly correlated with and thus not reducible to common measures of processing speed, working memory capacity and fluid intelligence. Males and females excelled in different aspects of multitasking, demonstrating the benefit of using a multifaceted view of multitasking competency in group comparison. Findings of the current study help resolve conflicting results between studies using different paradigms, and form the basis of more comprehensive measurement tools and training protocols covering different aspects of multitasking limitations. The study will also help future integration of multitasking abilities into the theoretical framework of executive function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kelvin F H Lui
- Room 362A Sino Building, Department of Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T, Hong Kong.
| | - Alan C-N Wong
- Room 362A Sino Building, Department of Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T, Hong Kong
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9
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On the Automaticity of Familiarity in Short-term Recognition: A Test of the Dual-Process Assumption with the PRP Paradigm. J Cogn 2018; 1:20. [PMID: 31517194 PMCID: PMC6634450 DOI: 10.5334/joc.21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Dual-process models of recognition often assume that one retrieval process, generating a familiarity signal, is automatic, whereas the other, recollection, is controlled. Four experiments are presented to test for automaticity of familiarity in a short-term recognition task. The experiments use the Psychological Refractory Period (PRP) paradigm to assess whether familiarity requires central processing capacity. Task 1 was an oral tone-classification task. Task 2 was a local-recognition task, in which participants decided whether a probe matched a particular item in the memory set, identified by its screen location. Intrusion probes, matching an item of the memory set in a different location, were slower and more difficult to reject than new probes. The size of this intrusion cost reflects the influence of familiarity on recognition. In all four experiments the size of the intrusion cost was additive with the stimulus-onset-asynchrony (SOA) of Task 1 and Task 2, demonstrating that extraction of familiarity requires central capacity. In addition, Experiment 2 showed additive effects of memory set size and serial position with SOA, confirming that recollection, too, requires central capacity. Experiments 3A and 3B compared a condition including new probes to one including only positive and intrusion probes; in the latter condition the familiarity signal was completely uninformative. Participants showed some ability to reduce the influence of familiarity when it was completely uninformative, but only when they were explicitly told to do so (Experiment 3B). To conclude, by one criterion familiarity is a controlled process: It demands central processing capacity. It might also be controlled by another criterion: People can intentionally reduce the influence of familiarity on recognition decision, but they fail to do so spontaneously even when it would be advantageous. All raw data are available on the Open Science Framework: osf.io/7pr72.
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10
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Beste C, Mückschel M, Paucke M, Ziemssen T. Dual-Tasking in Multiple Sclerosis - Implications for a Cognitive Screening Instrument. Front Hum Neurosci 2018; 12:24. [PMID: 29445335 PMCID: PMC5797790 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2018.00024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2017] [Accepted: 01/16/2018] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
The monitoring of cognitive functions is central to the assessment and consecutive management of multiple sclerosis (MS). Though, especially cognitive processes that are central to everyday behavior like dual-tasking are often neglected. We examined dual-task performance using a psychological-refractory period (PRP) task in N = 21 patients and healthy controls and conducted standard neuropsychological tests. In dual-tasking, MS patients committed more erroneous responses when dual-tasking was difficult. In easier conditions, performance of MS patients did not differ to controls. Interestingly, the response times were generally not affected by the difficulty of the dual task, showing that the deficits observed do not reflect simple motor deficits or deficits in information processing speed but point out deficits in executive control functions and response selection in particular. Effect sizes were considerably large with d∼0.80 in mild affected patients and the achieved power was above 99%. There are cognitive control and dual tasking deficits in MS that are not attributable to simple motor speed deficits. Scaling of the difficulty of dual-tasking makes the test applied suitable for a wide variety of MS-patients and may complement neuropsychological assessments in clinical care and research setting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Beste
- Cognitive Neurophysiology, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Moritz Mückschel
- Cognitive Neurophysiology, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.,Multiple Sclerosis Center, Center of Clinical Neuroscience, Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Madlen Paucke
- Multiple Sclerosis Center, Center of Clinical Neuroscience, Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Tjalf Ziemssen
- Multiple Sclerosis Center, Center of Clinical Neuroscience, Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
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11
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Abstract
Practice effects on dual-task processing are of interest in current research because they may reveal the scope and limits of parallel task processing. Here we used onsets of the lateralized readiness potential (LRP), a time marker for the termination of response selection, to assess processing changes after five consecutive dual-task sessions with three stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) and priority on Task 1. Practice reduced reaction times in both tasks and the interference between tasks. As indicated by the LRP, the reduction of dual-task costs can be explained most parsimoniously by a shortening of the temporal demands of central bottleneck stages, without assuming parallel processing. However, the LRP also revealed a hitherto unreported early activation over the parietal scalp after practice in the short SOA condition, possibly indicating the isolation of stimulus–response translation from other central processing stages. In addition, further evidence was obtained from the LRP for a late motoric bottleneck, which is robust against practice.
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12
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Dual-task automatization: The key role of sensory–motor modality compatibility. Atten Percept Psychophys 2017; 80:752-772. [DOI: 10.3758/s13414-017-1469-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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13
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Bender AD, Filmer HL, Naughtin CK, Dux PE. Dynamic, continuous multitasking training leads to task-specific improvements but does not transfer across action selection tasks. NPJ SCIENCE OF LEARNING 2017; 2:14. [PMID: 30631460 PMCID: PMC6220332 DOI: 10.1038/s41539-017-0015-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2017] [Revised: 10/02/2017] [Accepted: 10/27/2017] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
The ability to perform multiple tasks concurrently is an ever-increasing requirement in our information-rich world. Despite this, multitasking typically compromises performance due to the processing limitations associated with cognitive control and decision-making. While intensive dual-task training is known to improve multitasking performance, only limited evidence suggests that training-related performance benefits can transfer to untrained tasks that share overlapping processes. In the real world, however, coordinating and selecting several responses within close temporal proximity will often occur in high-interference environments. Over the last decade, there have been notable reports that training on video action games that require dynamic multitasking in a demanding environment can lead to transfer effects on aspects of cognition such as attention and working memory. Here, we asked whether continuous and dynamic multitasking training extends benefits to tasks that are theoretically related to the trained tasks. To examine this issue, we asked a group of participants to train on a combined continuous visuomotor tracking task and a perceptual discrimination task for six sessions, while an active control group practiced the component tasks in isolation. A battery of tests measuring response selection, response inhibition, and spatial attention was administered before and immediately after training to investigate transfer. Multitasking training resulted in substantial, task-specific gains in dual-task ability, but there was no evidence that these benefits generalized to other action control tasks. The findings suggest that training on a combined visuomotor tracking and discrimination task results in task-specific benefits but provides no additional value for untrained action selection tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angela D. Bender
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Queensland, Australia
| | - Hannah L. Filmer
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Queensland, Australia
| | - Claire K. Naughtin
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Queensland, Australia
| | - Paul E. Dux
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Queensland, Australia
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14
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Weißbecker-Klaus X, Ullsperger P, Freude G, Schapkin SA. Impaired Error Processing and Semantic Processing During Multitasking. J PSYCHOPHYSIOL 2017. [DOI: 10.1027/0269-8803/a000178] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Abstract. Neuronal mechanisms of error processing under multitasking and their impact on the processing of a concurrent task were examined. Twenty-one younger and twenty older healthy adults performed a visual-motor flanker task or an auditory-vocal semantic task or both tasks simultaneously. During task performance the electroencephalogram (EEG) was continuously recorded. The event-related potential (ERP) was derived from the EEG, and ERP components associated with error processing (Ne and Pe) and semantic processing (N400) were analyzed. Older participants responded more slowly than younger ones in the flanker task regardless of the multitasking condition, while accuracy was equal in both groups. In the flanker task, multitasking led to an increase of error rates, a reduction of reaction times, and a disappearance of post-error slowing (PES). Error detection (Ne) was delayed and error awareness (Pe) attenuated in the single flanker task relative to the multitasking condition. In the semantic task, multitasking led to an increase of reaction times and a delay of the N400 in particular when an error in the flanker task occurred. First, these results indicate that multitasking impaired error processing, in particular conscious error perception (Pe) and abolished post-error adjustments of performance (PES) which may have resulted in a more risky response tendency in the flanker task. Second, multitasking impaired semantic processing, in particular after an error in the concurrent flanker task. Hence, multitasking compromised error processing and error prevention in one of the tasks, and semantic processing in the other task. Consequently, multitasking should be avoided at workplaces with error-prone job assignments or where poor understanding of communication may have serious consequences.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Peter Ullsperger
- Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Berlin, Germany
| | - Gabriele Freude
- Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Berlin, Germany
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15
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Strobach T, Torsten S. Mechanisms of Practice-Related Reductions of Dual-Task Interference with Simple Tasks: Data and Theory. Adv Cogn Psychol 2017; 13:28-41. [PMID: 28439319 PMCID: PMC5385484 DOI: 10.5709/acp-0204-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2016] [Accepted: 11/01/2016] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
In dual-task situations, interference between two simultaneous tasks impairs performance. With practice, however, this impairment can be reduced. To identify mechanisms leading to a practice-related improvement in sensorimotor dual tasks, the present review applied the following general hypothesis: Sources that impair dual-task performance at the beginning of practice are associated with mechanisms for the reduction of dual-task impairment at the end of practice. The following types of processes provide sources for the occurrence of this impairment: (a) capacity-limited processes within the component tasks, such as response-selection or motor response stages, and (b) cognitive control processes independent of these tasks and thus operating outside of component-task performance. Dual-task practice studies show that, under very specific conditions, capacity-limited processes within the component tasks are automatized with practice, reducing the interference between two simultaneous tasks. Further, there is evidence that response-selection stages are shortened with practice. Thus, capacity limitations at these stages are sources for dual-task costs at the beginning of practice and are overcome with practice. However, there is no evidence demonstrating the existence of practice-related mechanisms associated with capacity-limited motor-response stages. Further, during practice, there is an acquisition of executive control skills for an improved allocation of limited attention resources to two tasks as well as some evidence supporting the assumption of improved task coordination. These latter mechanisms are associated with sources of dual-task interference operating outside of component task performance at the beginning of practice and also contribute to the reduction of dual-task interference at its end.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tilo Strobach
- Department of Psychology, Medical School Hamburg, Germany
| | - Schubert Torsten
- Institute for Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin,
Germany
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16
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Gao L, Zhang J, Hou Y, Hallett M, Chan P, Wu T. The cerebellum in dual-task performance in Parkinson's disease. Sci Rep 2017; 7:45662. [PMID: 28358358 PMCID: PMC5372469 DOI: 10.1038/srep45662] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2016] [Accepted: 03/02/2017] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients have difficulty in performing a dual-task. It has been suggested that the cerebellum is important in dual-tasking. We used functional MRI to investigate the role of the cerebellum in performing a dual motor and cognitive task in PD patients. We have examined whether there are any areas additionally activated for dual-task performance, and compared the neural activity and functional connectivity pattern in the cerebellum between PD patients and healthy controls. We found that the right cerebellar vermis and left lobule V of cerebellar anterior lobe were additionally activated for dual-task performance in healthy controls and for motor task in PD patients. We didn’t find any cerebellar regions additionally activated while performing dual-task in PD patients. In addition, the right cerebellar vermis had enhanced connectivity with motor and cognitive associated networks in PD patients. PD patients have limited cerebellar resources that are already utilized for single tasks and, for dual tasks, cannot augment as necessary in order to integrate motor and cognitive networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Linlin Gao
- Department of Neurobiology, Key Laboratory on Neurodegenerative Disorders of Ministry of Education, Beijing Institute of Geriatrics, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.,Beijing Key Laboratory on Parkinson's Disease, Parkinson Disease Center of Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders, Beijing, China
| | - Jiarong Zhang
- Department of Neurobiology, Key Laboratory on Neurodegenerative Disorders of Ministry of Education, Beijing Institute of Geriatrics, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.,Beijing Key Laboratory on Parkinson's Disease, Parkinson Disease Center of Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders, Beijing, China
| | - Yanan Hou
- Department of Neurobiology, Key Laboratory on Neurodegenerative Disorders of Ministry of Education, Beijing Institute of Geriatrics, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.,Beijing Key Laboratory on Parkinson's Disease, Parkinson Disease Center of Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders, Beijing, China
| | - Mark Hallett
- Human Motor Control Section, Medical Neurology Branch, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Piu Chan
- Department of Neurobiology, Key Laboratory on Neurodegenerative Disorders of Ministry of Education, Beijing Institute of Geriatrics, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.,Beijing Key Laboratory on Parkinson's Disease, Parkinson Disease Center of Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders, Beijing, China
| | - Tao Wu
- Department of Neurobiology, Key Laboratory on Neurodegenerative Disorders of Ministry of Education, Beijing Institute of Geriatrics, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.,Beijing Key Laboratory on Parkinson's Disease, Parkinson Disease Center of Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders, Beijing, China
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Strobach T, Antonenko D. tDCS-Induced Effects on Executive Functioning and Their Cognitive Mechanisms: a Review. JOURNAL OF COGNITIVE ENHANCEMENT 2016. [DOI: 10.1007/s41465-016-0004-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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18
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On the relationship between response selection and response inhibition: An individual differences approach. Atten Percept Psychophys 2016; 78:2420-2432. [DOI: 10.3758/s13414-016-1158-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
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19
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Lien MC, Ruthruff E, Johnston JC. Attentional Limitations in Doing Two Tasks at Once. CURRENT DIRECTIONS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2016. [DOI: 10.1111/j.0963-7214.2006.00413.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
People generally have difficulty doing two tasks at once. To explain this fact, theorists have proposed that central processing—the thought-like stages following perceptual encoding and preceding response processing—takes place for only one task at a time. Because this bottleneck imposes severe limits on human cognitive processes, research has attempted to find exceptions. There is now solid evidence that, at least in the laboratory, the entire bottleneck can be completely bypassed under favorable combinations of circumstances. While these findings provide a ray of hope for enabling parallel multitasking in real-world scenarios, it will not be easy to take advantage of the combination of conditions that appear to be necessary.
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20
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Helm F, Reiser M, Munzert J. Domain-Specific and Unspecific Reaction Times in Experienced Team Handball Goalkeepers and Novices. Front Psychol 2016; 7:882. [PMID: 27445879 PMCID: PMC4915076 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00882] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2016] [Accepted: 05/27/2016] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
In our everyday environments, we are constantly having to adapt our behavior to changing conditions. Hence, processing information is a fundamental cognitive activity, especially the linking together of perceptual and action processes. In this context, expertise research in the sport domain has concentrated on arguing that superior processing performance is driven by an advantage to be found in anticipatory processes (see Williams et al., 2011, for a review). This has resulted in less attention being paid to the benefits coming from basic internal perceptual-motor processing. In general, research on reaction time (RT) indicates that practicing a RT task leads to an increase in processing speed (Mowbray and Rhoades, 1959; Rabbitt and Banerji, 1989). Against this background, the present study examined whether the speed of internal processing is dependent on or independent from domain-specific motor expertise in unpredictable stimulus–response tasks and in a double stimulus–response paradigm. Thirty male participants (15 team handball goalkeepers and 15 novices) performed domain-unspecific simple or choice stimulus–response (CSR) tasks as well as CSR tasks that were domain-specific only for goalkeepers. As expected, results showed significantly faster RTs for goalkeepers on domain-specific tasks, whereas novices’ RTs were more frequently excessively long. However, differences between groups in the double stimulus-response paradigm were not significant. It is concluded that the reported expertise advantage might be due to recalling stored perceptual-motor representations for the domain-specific tasks, implying that experience with (practice of) a motor task explicitly enhances the internal processing of other related domain-specific tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabian Helm
- Department of Psychology and Sport Science, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen Giessen, Germany
| | - Mathias Reiser
- Department of Psychology and Sport Science, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen Giessen, Germany
| | - Jörn Munzert
- Department of Psychology and Sport Science, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen Giessen, Germany
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21
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Abstract
The author presents a selective and integrative overview of cur-rent research examining acute effects of abused drugs on aspects of behavioral control in humans. The review discusses the concept of behavioral control and reviews research models that examine inhibitory influences as a central mechanism of control. Evidence for drug-induced impairment of inhibitory mechanisms is reviewed from current neuroanatomical, neuropharmacological, and behavioral perspectives. Model-based laboratory assessments of behavioral control are described in terms of their application to behavioral pharmacology and evidence for alcohol and psychostimulant effects on basic inhibitory mechanisms is reviewed. Drug effects on inhibitory mechanisms are also discussed in terms of their relevance to higher-order cognitive and behavioral functions, and in relation to impulsive behaviors, such as drug abuse. The review concludes by identifying important drug-related phenomenon (e.g., drug tolerance, cue reactivity) that might also be studied in behavioral control frameworks in future research.
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Abstract
Participants attempted to perform two tasks concurrently during simulated driving. In the choice task, they responded either manually or vocally to the number of times a visual or auditory stimulus occurred; in the braking task, they depressed a brake pedal in response to the lead car's brake lights. The time delay between the onset of the tasks' stimuli, or stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA), was varied. The tasks were differentially affected by the manipulations. Brake reaction times increased as SOA was reduced, showing the psychological refractory period effect, whereas the choice task showed large effects of the stimulus and response modalities but only a small effect of SOA. These results demonstrate that a well-practiced “simple” task such as vehicle braking is subject to dual-task slowing and extend the generality of the central-bottleneck model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan Levy
- Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0109, USA.
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Soutschek A, Taylor PCJ, Schubert T. The role of the dorsal medial frontal cortex in central processing limitation: a transcranial magnetic stimulation study. Exp Brain Res 2016; 234:2447-55. [PMID: 27083589 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-016-4649-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2015] [Accepted: 04/07/2016] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
When humans perform two tasks simultaneously, responses to the second task are increasingly delayed as the interval between the two tasks decreases (psychological refractory period). This delay of the second task is thought to reflect a central processing limitation at the response selection stage. However, the neural mechanisms underlying this central processing limitation remain unclear. Using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), we examined the role of the dorsal medial frontal cortex (dMFC) in a dual-task paradigm in which participants performed an auditory task 1 and a visual task 2. We found that dMFC TMS, relative to control conditions, reduced the psychological refractory period for task 2 processing, whereas we observed no dMFC TMS effects on task 1 processing. This suggests a causal role of the dMFC in coordinating response selection processes at the central bottleneck.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Soutschek
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany. .,Laboratory for Social and Neural Systems Research, Department of Economics, University of Zurich, Blumlisalpstrasse 10, 8006, Zurich, Switzerland.
| | - Paul C J Taylor
- German Center of Vertigo and Balance Disorders, Klinikum Grosshadern, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany.,Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Torsten Schubert
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
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24
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Strobach T, Woszidlo A. Young and Older Adults' Gender Stereotype in Multitasking. Front Psychol 2016; 6:1922. [PMID: 26733913 PMCID: PMC4686734 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01922] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2015] [Accepted: 11/30/2015] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
In the present study, we investigated discrepancies between two components of stereotyping by means of the popular notion that women are better at multitasking behaviors: the cognitive structure in individuals (personal belief) and the perceived consensus regarding certain beliefs (perceived belief of groups). With focus on this notion, we examined whether there was empirical evidence for the stereotype's existence and whether and how it was shared among different age groups. Data were collected from 241 young (n = 129) and older (n = 112) German individuals. The reported perceptions of gender effects at multitasking were substantial and thus demonstrated the existence of its stereotype. Importantly, in young and older adults, this stereotype existed in the perception of attributed characteristics by members of a collective (perceived belief of groups). When contrasting this perceived belief of groups and the personal belief, older adults showed a similar level of conformation of the gender stereotype while young adults were able to differentiate between these perspectives. Thus, young adults showed a discrepancy between the stereotype's components cognitive structure in individuals and perceived consensus regarding certain beliefs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tilo Strobach
- Medical School Hamburg University of Applied Science and Medical University Hamburg, Germany
| | - Alesia Woszidlo
- Department of Communication Studies, The University of Kansas Lawrence, KS, USA
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Strobach T, Gerstorf D, Maquestiaux F, Schubert T. Does initial performance variability predict dual-task optimization with practice in younger and older adults? Exp Aging Res 2015; 41:57-88. [PMID: 25494671 DOI: 10.1080/0361073x.2015.978210] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
UNLABELLED BACKGROUND/STUDY CONTEXT: The variability associated with reaction time (RT) is sometimes considered as a proxy for inefficient neural processing, particularly in old age and complex situations relying upon executive control functions. Here, it is examined whether the amount of variability exhibited early in practice can predict the amount of improvement with later practice in dual-task performance, and whether the predictive power of variability varies between younger and older adults. METHODS To investigate the relationship between variability and practice-related improvement, RT mean and variability data are used, obtained from an experiment in which younger and older adults performed two tasks in single-task and dual-task conditions across seven practice sessions. These RT and variability data were related to the single-task and dual-task practice benefits. These benefits were computed as follows: dual-task/single-task RTs at the beginning of practice minus dual-task/single-task RTs at the end of practice. RESULTS In both age groups, dual-task processing was speeded up with practice and variability associated with the means was reduced. Most important, independent of mean RTs, variability allowed predicting dual-task practice benefit in both age groups under specific conditions. CONCLUSION These findings suggest that the relationship between performance variability and executive control functions under some specific conditions. Implications of these results for models of practiced dual tasks are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tilo Strobach
- a Department of Psychology , Humboldt University Berlin , Berlin , Germany
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26
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A systematic review of the effect of distraction on surgeon performance: directions for operating room policy and surgical training. Surg Endosc 2015; 30:1713-24. [PMID: 26194261 DOI: 10.1007/s00464-015-4443-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 76] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2015] [Accepted: 07/13/2015] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Distractions during surgical procedures have been linked to medical error and team inefficiency. This systematic review identifies the most common and most significant forms of distraction in order to devise guidelines for mitigating the effects of distractions in the OR. METHODS In January 2015, a PubMed and Google Scholar search yielded 963 articles, of which 17 (2 %) either directly observed the occurrence of distractions in operating rooms or conducted a laboratory experiment to determine the effect of distraction on surgical performance. RESULTS Observational studies indicated that movement and case-irrelevant conversation were the most frequently occurring distractions, but equipment and procedural distractions were the most severe. Laboratory studies indicated that (1) auditory and mental distractions can significantly impact surgical performance, but visual distractions do not incur the same level of effects; (2) task difficulty has an interaction effect with distractions; and (3) inexperienced subjects reduce their speed when faced with distractions, while experienced subjects did not. CONCLUSION This systematic review suggests that operating room protocols should ensure that distractions from intermittent auditory and mental distractions are significantly reduced. In addition, surgical residents would benefit from training for intermittent auditory and mental distractions in order to develop automaticity and high skill performance during distractions, particularly during more difficult surgical tasks. It is unclear as to whether training should be done in the presence of distractions or distractions should only be used for post-training testing of levels of automaticity.
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Montani V, De Filippo De Grazia M, Zorzi M. A new adaptive videogame for training attention and executive functions: design principles and initial validation. Front Psychol 2014; 5:409. [PMID: 24860529 PMCID: PMC4026745 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00409] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2013] [Accepted: 04/18/2014] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
A growing body of evidence suggests that action videogames could enhance a variety of cognitive skills and more specifically attention skills. The aim of this study was to develop a novel adaptive videogame to support the rehabilitation of the most common consequences of traumatic brain injury (TBI), that is the impairment of attention and executive functions. TBI patients can be affected by psychomotor slowness and by difficulties in dealing with distraction, maintain a cognitive set for a long time, processing different simultaneously presented stimuli, and planning purposeful behavior. Accordingly, we designed a videogame that was specifically conceived to activate those functions. Playing involves visuospatial planning and selective attention, active maintenance of the cognitive set representing the goal, and error monitoring. Moreover, different game trials require to alternate between two tasks (i.e., task switching) or to perform the two tasks simultaneously (i.e., divided attention/dual-tasking). The videogame is controlled by a multidimensional adaptive algorithm that calibrates task difficulty on-line based on a model of user performance that is updated on a trial-by-trial basis. We report simulations of user performance designed to test the adaptive game as well as a validation study with healthy participants engaged in a training protocol. The results confirmed the involvement of the cognitive abilities that the game is supposed to enhance and suggested that training improved attentional control during play.
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Affiliation(s)
- Veronica Montani
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova Padova, Italy
| | | | - Marco Zorzi
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova Padova, Italy ; Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Padova Padova, Italy ; IRCCS San Camillo Neurorehabilitation Hospital Venice Lido, Italy
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28
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The influence of training on the attentional blink and psychological refractory period. Atten Percept Psychophys 2014; 76:979-99. [DOI: 10.3758/s13414-014-0638-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
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29
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30
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Cameron AF, Webster J. Multicommunicating: Juggling Multiple Conversations in the Workplace. INFORMATION SYSTEMS RESEARCH 2013. [DOI: 10.1287/isre.1120.0446] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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31
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Roberts W, Milich R, Fillmore MT. Constraints on information processing capacity in adults with ADHD. Neuropsychology 2013; 26:695-703. [PMID: 23106116 DOI: 10.1037/a0030296] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Researchers in the cognitive sciences have demonstrated the existence of processing capacity bottlenecks in the human brain. These capacity bottlenecks restrict our ability to process and act on environmental information. The purpose of the current study was to examine whether adults with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) show reduced capacity of working memory and response selection mechanisms. METHOD Thirty-eight young adults with ADHD and 33 comparison adults were assessed using two measures of processing capacity. A dual choice-response task (psychological refractory period [PRP] task) measured response selection capacity, and an n-back task measured working memory capacity. These tasks measured capacity by assessing the degree to which increasing processing load disrupted performance. RESULTS Results confirmed that performance declined as cognitive load was increased, and this was true for both groups on each task. On the PRP task, the performance decline resulting from increased cognitive load was more pronounced in the ADHD group than in the control group, indicative of reduced response selection capacity in the ADHD group. On the n-back task, however, there was no group difference in the degree to which increasing processing load disrupted performance. CONCLUSIONS Results indicate that adults with ADHD show a specific capacity reduction of response selection. This evidence suggests a dissociation between working memory and response selection capacities, and it may have implications for understanding cognitive dysfunction in adults with ADHD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Walter Roberts
- Department of Psychology, 115 Kastle Hall, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0044, USA
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32
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Effects of extensive dual-task practice on processing stages in simultaneous choice tasks. Atten Percept Psychophys 2013; 75:900-20. [DOI: 10.3758/s13414-013-0451-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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33
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Playing shooter and driving videogames improves top-down guidance in visual search. Atten Percept Psychophys 2013; 75:673-86. [DOI: 10.3758/s13414-013-0440-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 73] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
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34
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Piai V, Roelofs A. Working memory capacity and dual-task interference in picture naming. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2013; 142:332-42. [PMID: 23419811 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2013.01.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2012] [Revised: 01/09/2013] [Accepted: 01/12/2013] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Researchers have found no agreement on whether dual-task interference in language performance, such as dual-task interference from tone discrimination on picture naming, reflects passive queuing or active scheduling of processes for each task. According to a passive-queuing account, while a central response-selection bottleneck is occupied by the tone discrimination task, picture naming is held in a passive queue until the bottleneck is freed. In contrast, according to an active-scheduling account, participants determine the order in which the tasks proceed, monitor progress on the tasks, suspend picture naming and hold it in working memory, and determine when to resume picture naming. Here, we report a study that assessed the relative merits of the queuing and scheduling accounts by examining whether the magnitude of dual-task interference in picture naming is associated with individual differences in the capacity of monitoring and updating of working memory representations, as assessed by the operation-span task. We observed that the updating/monitoring ability correlated with the speed of picture naming and with the magnitude of the interference from tone discrimination on picture naming. These results lend support to the active-scheduling account of dual-task interference in picture naming.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vitória Piai
- Radboud University Nijmegen, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Centre for Cognition, Montessorilaan 3, 6525 HR Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
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35
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Maquestiaux F. La simultanéité des actes psychiques : apports du protocole PRP. ANNEE PSYCHOLOGIQUE 2012. [DOI: 10.3917/anpsy.124.0631] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
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Wu T, Liu J, Hallett M, Zheng Z, Chan P. Cerebellum and integration of neural networks in dual-task processing. Neuroimage 2012; 65:466-75. [PMID: 23063842 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.10.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 80] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2012] [Revised: 09/23/2012] [Accepted: 10/04/2012] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Performing two tasks simultaneously (dual-task) is common in human daily life. The neural correlates of dual-task processing remain unclear. In the current study, we used a dual motor and counting task with functional MRI (fMRI) to determine whether there are any areas additionally activated for dual-task performance. Moreover, we investigated the functional connectivity of these added activated areas, as well as the training effect on brain activity and connectivity. We found that the right cerebellar vermis, left lobule V of the cerebellar anterior lobe and precuneus are additionally activated for this type of dual-tasking. These cerebellar regions had functional connectivity with extensive motor- and cognitive-related regions. Dual-task training induced less activation in several areas, but increased the functional connectivity between these cerebellar regions and numbers of motor- and cognitive-related areas. Our findings demonstrate that some regions within the cerebellum can be additionally activated with dual-task performance. Their role in dual motor and cognitive task processes is likely to integrate motor and cognitive networks, and may be involved in adjusting these networks to be more efficient in order to perform dual-tasking properly. The connectivity of the precuneus differs from the cerebellar regions. A possible role of the precuneus in dual-tasks may be to monitor the operation of active brain networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tao Wu
- Department of Neurobiology, Key Laboratory on Neurodegenerative Disorders of Ministry of Education, Beijing Institute of Geriatrics, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
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38
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Electrodermal responses to sources of dual-task interference. COGNITIVE AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2012; 12:543-56. [DOI: 10.3758/s13415-012-0094-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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39
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Strobach T, Frensch P, Müller H, Schubert T. Age- and practice-related influences on dual-task costs and compensation mechanisms under optimal conditions of dual-task performance. AGING NEUROPSYCHOLOGY AND COGNITION 2012; 19:222-47. [DOI: 10.1080/13825585.2011.630973] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/14/2022]
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40
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Marti S, Sigman M, Dehaene S. A shared cortical bottleneck underlying Attentional Blink and Psychological Refractory Period. Neuroimage 2011; 59:2883-98. [PMID: 21988891 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.09.063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 76] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2011] [Revised: 09/22/2011] [Accepted: 09/23/2011] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Doing two things at once is difficult. When two tasks have to be performed within a short interval, the second is sharply delayed, an effect called the Psychological Refractory Period (PRP). Similarly, when two successive visual targets are briefly flashed, people may fail to detect the second target (Attentional Blink or AB). Although AB and PRP are typically studied in very different paradigms, a recent detailed neuromimetic model suggests that both might arise from the same serial stage during which stimuli gain access to consciousness and, as a result, can be arbitrarily routed to any other appropriate processor. Here, in agreement with this model, we demonstrate that AB and PRP can be obtained on alternate trials of the same cross-modal paradigm and result from limitations in the same brain mechanisms. We asked participants to respond as fast as possible to an auditory target T1 and then to a visual target T2 embedded in a series of distractors, while brain activity was recorded with magneto-encephalography (MEG). For identical stimuli, we observed a mixture of blinked trials, where T2 was entirely missed, and PRP trials, where T2 processing was delayed. MEG recordings showed that PRP and blinked trials underwent identical sensory processing in visual occipito-temporal cortices, even including the non-conscious separation of targets from distractors. However, late activations in frontal cortex (>350 ms), strongly influenced by the speed of task-1 execution, were delayed in PRP trials and absent in blinked trials. Our findings suggest that PRP and AB arise from similar cortical stages, can occur with the same exact stimuli, and are merely distinguished by trial-by-trial fluctuations in task processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sébastien Marti
- INSERM, U992, Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, F-91191 Gif/Yvette, France.
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41
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Liepelt R, Strobach T, Frensch P, Schubert T. Improved Intertask Coordination after Extensive Dual-Task Practice. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2011; 64:1251-72. [PMID: 21462091 DOI: 10.1080/17470218.2010.543284] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
This study examines whether an improved intertask coordination skill is acquired during extensive dual-task training and whether it can be transferred to a new dual-task situation. Participants practised a visual–manual task and an auditory–vocal task. These tasks were trained in two groups matched in dual-task performance measures before practice: a single-task practice group and a hybrid practice group (including single-task and dual-task practice). After practice, the single-task practice group was transferred to the same dual-task situation as that for the hybrid practice group (Experiment 1), both groups were transferred to a dual-task situation with a new visual task (Experiment 2), and both groups were transferred to a dual-task situation with a new auditory task matched in task difficulty (Experiment 3). The results show a dual-task performance advantage in the hybrid practice group over the single-task practice group in the practised dual-task situation (Experiment 1), the manipulated visual-task situation (Experiment 2), and the manipulated auditory-task situation (Experiment 3). In all experiments, the dual-task performance advantage was consistently found for the auditory task only. These findings suggest that extended dual-task practice improves the skill to coordinate two tasks, which may be defined as an accelerated switching operation between both tasks. This skill is relatively robust against changes of the component visual and auditory tasks. We discuss how the finding of task coordination could be integrated in present models of dual-task research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roman Liepelt
- Junior Group “Neurocognition of Joint Action”, Department of Psychology, Westfälische Wilhelms-University, Münster, Germany
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt-University, Berlin, Germany
- Department of Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Tilo Strobach
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich, Germany
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt-University, Berlin, Germany
| | - Peter Frensch
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt-University, Berlin, Germany
| | - Torsten Schubert
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich, Germany
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt-University, Berlin, Germany
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Leonhard T. Determinants of central processing order in psychological refractory period paradigms: central arrival times, detection times, or preparation? Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2011; 64:2012-43. [PMID: 21678229 DOI: 10.1080/17470218.2011.573567] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Three psychological refractory period (PRP) experiments were conducted to assess the effect of central arrival times at the bottleneck on task order scheduling. In Experiment 1, a visual first task (plus-minus symbol discrimination) was combined with an auditory second task (left-right tone judgement) in a standard PRP paradigm with constant task order. In Experiment 2, the order of the tasks varied unpredictably. In Experiment 3, visual-auditory dual-task trials were randomly mixed with single-task trials. To dissociate central arrival times from stimulus detection times, the perceptual stage of the visual task was extended using stimulus degradation. Most importantly, no evidence for a first-come, first-served principle at the central bottleneck was found with the employed paradigms. Instead, the results indicated that preparation (Experiment 1) and the detection times of the stimuli (Experiments 2 and 3) were the main determinants of central processing order in the present study. In the light of previous research, the results indicate that central processing order can be influenced by various factors. The interplay between these factors seems to depend highly on the conditions and requirements of the employed experimental paradigm.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tanja Leonhard
- Cognitive and Biological Psychology, University of Tübingen, Friedrichstrasse 21, Tübingen, Germany.
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Kamienkowski JE, Pashler H, Dehaene S, Sigman M. Effects of practice on task architecture: Combined evidence from interference experiments and random-walk models of decision making. Cognition 2011; 119:81-95. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2010.12.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2009] [Revised: 10/27/2010] [Accepted: 12/17/2010] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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Liepelt R, Fischer R, Frensch PA, Schubert T. Practice-related reduction of dual-task costs under conditions of a manual-pedal response combination. JOURNAL OF COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 2011. [DOI: 10.1080/20445911.2011.448025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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Dux PE, Tombu MN, Harrison S, Rogers BP, Tong F, Marois R. Training improves multitasking performance by increasing the speed of information processing in human prefrontal cortex. Neuron 2009; 63:127-38. [PMID: 19607798 PMCID: PMC2713348 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2009.06.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 155] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2008] [Revised: 04/13/2009] [Accepted: 06/02/2009] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Our ability to multitask is severely limited: task performance deteriorates when we attempt to undertake two or more tasks simultaneously. Remarkably, extensive training can greatly reduce such multitasking costs. While it is not known how training alters the brain to solve the multitasking problem, it likely involves the prefrontal cortex given this brain region's purported role in limiting multitasking performance. Here, we show that the reduction of multitasking interference with training is not achieved by diverting the flow of information processing away from the prefrontal cortex or by segregating prefrontal cells into independent task-specific neuronal ensembles, but rather by increasing the speed of information processing in this brain region, thereby allowing multiple tasks to be processed in rapid succession. These results not only reveal how training leads to efficient multitasking, they also provide a mechanistic account of multitasking limitations, namely the poor speed of information processing in human prefrontal cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul E Dux
- Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt Vision Research Center, Center for Integrative and Cognitive Neurosciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37240, USA.
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Attentional loads associated with interlimb interactions underlying rhythmic bimanual coordination. Cognition 2008; 109:372-88. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2008.10.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2008] [Revised: 09/12/2008] [Accepted: 10/06/2008] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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Pashler H, Harris CR, Nuechterlein KH. Does the Central Bottleneck Encompass Voluntary Selection of Hedonically Based Choices? Exp Psychol 2008; 55:313-21. [DOI: 10.1027/1618-3169.55.5.313] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
A large literature on multitasking bottlenecks suggests that people cannot generally make decisions or select responses in two different tasks at the same time. However, these tasks have all involved retrieving preinstructed responses, rather than spontaneously choosing actions based on anticipated hedonic consequences. To assess whether the same bottlenecks encompasses voluntary choices, a gambling decision was utilized as the second of two tasks in a psychological refractory period (PRP) design. Three decision-related factors were identified that affected latency of responding in the gambling task. All proved to be additive with stimulus-onset asynchrony (SOA) in dual-task blocks. The results indicate that making a choice to try to optimize outcomes is subject to the same processing bottleneck as the retrieval of preinstructed responses that has been the mainstay of attention and performance research.
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Johnston JC, McCann RS. On the locus of dual-task interference: Is there a bottleneck at the stimulus classification stage? Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2006; 59:694-719. [PMID: 16707358 DOI: 10.1080/02724980543000015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Recent studies have provided evidence that dual-task interference is typically caused by a single-channel bottleneck, but the processing locus of the bottleneck has yet to be pinned down. A bottleneck locus at the response-selection stage is widely advocated, but an earlier locus would be consistent with most previous evidence. Four new experiments used the "locus of slack" method to investigate whether the stages postponed by the central bottleneck include stimulus classification, a very late stage of perceptual processing. The experiments varied stimulus classification difficulty for two different analogueue perceptual judgements. Experiment 1 found only modest absorption into slack for the difficulty of a spatial position judgement. Experiments 2-4 found virtually no absorption into slack for the difficulty of a box-width judgement. These results support a bottleneck locus beginning at or before the stage of stimulus classification and hence prior to the stage of response selection. Other evidence, however, leaves no doubt that response selection is also subject to bottleneck postponement. Two architectures are discussed that can account parsimoniously for both old and new results. One posits a single bottleneck resulting from a unified CPU-like central processor; the other posits multiple bottlenecks resulting from multiple processors accomplishing different substages of central processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- James C Johnston
- NASA Ames Research Center, MS 262-4, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA.
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Oram MW. Integrating neuronal coding into cognitive models: predicting reaction time distributions. NETWORK (BRISTOL, ENGLAND) 2005; 16:377-400. [PMID: 16611591 DOI: 10.1080/09548980500445039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Abstract
Neurophysiological studies have examined many aspects of neuronal activity in terms of neuronal codes and postulated roles for these codes in brain processing. There has been relatively little work, however, examining the relationship between different neuronal codes and the behavioural phenomena associated with cognitive processes. Here, predictions about reaction time distributions derived from an accumulator model incorporating known neurophysiological data in temporal lobe visual areas of the macaque are examined. Results from human experimental studies examining the effects of changing stimulus orientation, size and contrast are consistent with the model, including qualitatively different changes in reaction time distributions with different stimulus manipulations. The different changes in reaction time distributions depend on whether the image manipulation changes neuronal response latency or magnitude and can be related to parallel or serial cognitive processes respectively. The results indicate that neuronal coding can be productively incorporated into computational models to provide mechanistic accounts of behavioural results related to cognitive phenomena.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mike W Oram
- School of Psychology, University of St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9JP, UK.
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